1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packaging article and corresponding method of manufacture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,939 issued Apr. 23, 1991 to B. A. Goldberg describes a fluid tight packaging tray that is formed from machine laid paperboard. A pair of die-cut paperboard blanks are prefolded to a tray configuration and placed into a cooperative pair of blow molding cavities. A vacuum system within the respective cavities holds the blanks in place as a hot, extruded parison of polymer is positioned between the cavities. Sequentially, the paperboard blank lined cavities are closed upon the parison which is expanded by pressurized gas against the internal surface faces of the blanks. Here, the polymer is chilled to structurally unitize all the tray shaping panels of paperboard and to seal the tray walls with a continuous, fluid-tight barrier of polymer film.
The immediate product of a mold cavity pair is a singular, vessel enclosure having a circumferential band of unlaminated polymer. When the circumferential band is die-cut, the vessel enclosure opens into two completed trays, each having a stiff, tough, exterior paperboard cladding printed with sharp, bright, press-applied graphics.
Although the aforedescribed Goldberg tray and method of manufacture represents a hallmark in consumer packaging development, the further refinement of partitioning the tray volume within the perimeter walls has, until now, proven elusive. It has been the object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a planar, paperboard blank configuration, that, when folded and placed into a blow mold cavity set will produce a partitioned tray i.e., a tray in which the bottom area is divided by upstanding walls into separate, fluid-tight pool areas.